The thinking is that it's really France I enjoy cycling around and camping in and so I'll just use different routes to get to and from our apartment in Majorca for the next few years. I'm currently thinking of Dumfries to Portsmouth, then Cherbourg, Le Mans, Tours, Poitiers, Limoges, Toulouse, Andorra, and then the ferry from Barcelona - about 1450 miles according to the computer, and so should be feasible in circa 3 weeks - an average of 65 - 70 miles a day.
Andorra will be a new crossing of the Pyrenees for me. It's quite high, the highest capital in Europe, and the road that bicycles have to use looks like the guy drawing the map was scribbling as he tried to get his pen to work but I thought that it would be nice to try it for a change. As I commented in my 2014 ride, I'm sure that the crossing that I've used in the past has been made a more gentle climb and, as such, is a bit of an anti-climax after all the anticipation. Hopefully, Andorra will be more of a challenge at a height of 3,356 feet.
Andorra will be a new crossing of the Pyrenees for me. It's quite high, the highest capital in Europe, and the road that bicycles have to use looks like the guy drawing the map was scribbling as he tried to get his pen to work but I thought that it would be nice to try it for a change. As I commented in my 2014 ride, I'm sure that the crossing that I've used in the past has been made a more gentle climb and, as such, is a bit of an anti-climax after all the anticipation. Hopefully, Andorra will be more of a challenge at a height of 3,356 feet.
March
A slight change to the route. The only reason for sailing to Cherbourg was because I haven't used it before. Upon doing some research I discovered that (a) many of the crossings require you to have a cabin, adding circa £100 to the cost, (b) the ferry docks at 8pm, meaning I probably wouldn't disembark until at least 8.30pm - a bit late to start cycling to a campsite and (c) campsites near the port are very expensive (about 30 euros). So I'm thinking of using St. Malo again. The ferry takes overnight to get there, but you aren't required to have a cabin, and gets there at 8am leaving you all day to get well into France, and cheaper campsites. I'll then head southeast until I pick up my original route.
Late March
I was sorting through some paperwork at the weekend and came across some notes that my late mother made when we went on holiday, camping through France and Spain when I was fifteen. Interestingly, we apparently camped at some places that are on my intended route and so I'm going to see if I can stay at a few of them again to see how they compare with the detailed notes that she made almost half a century ago!
A slight change to the route. The only reason for sailing to Cherbourg was because I haven't used it before. Upon doing some research I discovered that (a) many of the crossings require you to have a cabin, adding circa £100 to the cost, (b) the ferry docks at 8pm, meaning I probably wouldn't disembark until at least 8.30pm - a bit late to start cycling to a campsite and (c) campsites near the port are very expensive (about 30 euros). So I'm thinking of using St. Malo again. The ferry takes overnight to get there, but you aren't required to have a cabin, and gets there at 8am leaving you all day to get well into France, and cheaper campsites. I'll then head southeast until I pick up my original route.
Late March
I was sorting through some paperwork at the weekend and came across some notes that my late mother made when we went on holiday, camping through France and Spain when I was fifteen. Interestingly, we apparently camped at some places that are on my intended route and so I'm going to see if I can stay at a few of them again to see how they compare with the detailed notes that she made almost half a century ago!